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For weeks now, I’ve been knee deep in ramps and my huge wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano has dwindled considerably from all the ramp pairing I’ve done.

Here is a killer pie with all the fun stuff of spring; Ramps, yellow beets and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Usually this is just perfect but I’ve decided to go really nuts and added Soppersata Friuli, edible violets and some great pea shoots from the Farmers at the Athens Farmers Market.

First I started with a thirty hour, cold fermented dough made with Manitoba wheat at fourteen percent protein. It was leavened with my age-old starter with a little extra virgin olive oil. I flattened this baby really long and stretched and stretched… and proofed some more….and stretched. I then added a few handfuls of ramps. (Never skimp on ramps because then will melt to nothing on a pizza.)

I then cooked this baby in a 630 degree oven until the parm was just melted and the ramps wilting nicely.

Then it was time to add the yellow beet from Shade River Organic farms. I roasted these in a foil bag with the skins on at 350 degrees for 45 minutes then left them to steam even more for hours until they cooled. (This ensured a deep, sweet beet flavor and no crappy black spots.) I then skinned and sliced them- perfect for a mid cook, pizza topping.

After the browning of the crust was complete, I added the sopperasata to melt completely on the still-hot pie, then I waited a little longer to put the pea shoots and violets.

I just love black foods. Maybe because the culinary sadist in me longs to see the shock of modern Americans as grown adults say “ewww” after I tell them what made the dough black or when they take that first tentative bite of squid ink pasta or bread.

Squid ink has been around a long time. Adding it too foods is more of a visual affair compared to a flavor thingy because the taste has only a nuanced taste of the sea.

This pizza is a long Pizza al Metro and I wanted it to be a very wet profile because the squid ink dough best reflects the deep-dark alveoli or cells when it is hydrated and cold fermented a long time. This produces a killer oven spring and blasting cornicione. I’ve always liked a cool vegetal sauce when using burrata, the creamy-centered mozzarella from the Puglia region. On top of these two, I planned my fave: Sicilian white anchovies or Alici Marinati- I covered them ions ago right on this blog here:

I first made a Salsa Verde of cilantro, green pepper, red onion, a few garlic cloves, fresh basil and olive oil with salt and pepper.

Then, I played the dough out on parchment and par heated my oven to over 600 degrees. I layed the sauce thick because of evaporation and blasted this sucker for eleven minutes until the crust rose and the sauce solidified somewhat. Then I added fiore di latte mozzarella from Wisconson and some homemade burrata on top.

I baked the pizza for only a few more minutes to melt the cheese and set the sauce and crust then pulled it from the oven, added the anchovies and cut furiously into the melting mass of black, green, white and silver.

This was a spectacular way to enjoy a squid ink pizza!

The cell structure on this was airy and light and added a nice foil to the cream and astringently seafaring quality of the anchovies.